Be aware, be safe when buying online

Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper held a press conference at the Carl Anderson Law Enforcement Center, 305 Camson Road in Anderson Thursday along with local police chiefs to remind citizens they should be carefull when buying online items in person.

He was joined by Honea Path Police Chief David King, Williamston Police Chief Tony Taylor and Belton Police Chief Tommy Clamp to convey their plans to offer their agency’s parking lot for citizens to conduct in-person Internet Exchange Transactions.

During 2013, the Sheriff’s Office received several reports dealing with fraudulent activity as a result of online “Craigslist-type” transactions. In 2014, that number increased and it is expected to rise again this year.

In an effort to curb this trend, Anderson County law enforcement officials would like to recommend that citizens use their agency’s parking lots to conduct the final exchange of goods and/or money.

Sheriff John Skipper said, “If you are buying something online from someone that you’ve never met and you feel the least bit uncomfortable about the deal, you can suggest that the other party meet you in the parking lot of your local police department or the sheriff’s office. If the seller pauses or hesitates at that idea, maybe they should not be trusted.”

“Law enforcement parking lots have always been available to citizens for these types of exchanges. We just want to remind our citizens that based on the increase in this type of crime they may seriously want to consider using our parking lots as a safer place to meet”, added the sheriff.